How to Choose an Ad Network

How to Choose an Ad Network

What to look for in an ad network 

Choosing an ad network for monetizing your blog can be very hard and 
frustrating. 

There are thousands of ad networks out there and all seem to claim 
that they are the best. Their features are nearly the same and 
differentiating them is taunting. 

Before you choose an ad network to monetize your site, blog, or app, 
consider the following as in the order given: 

1. Average commission rates. 

The average commission rates of ad networks range from 3.00CPM to 
0.10CPM and 0.20CPC to 0.005CPC.(For US traffic) For games, apps and 
gaming sites, the average rates always go as high as 8.00CPM and 
0.50CPC. For asian traffic, the average rates are about half lower 
than US rates. 

Most ad networks have their rates at 0.50CPM and 0.02CPC. The CPM 
value is always for CTR of around 1%. Choose a good rate for your 
site/app. 

2. Minimum requirement 

Big ad networks like Tribal Fusion require very large traffic of upto 
500000 monthly impressions. 
This needs an already established site. Other ad networks like 
Qadabra, however, do not have any traffic requirement and offer 
instant approval of sites. Obviously, the ones like Qadabra always 
have very low CPM rates(around 0.10 to 0.20CPM) unlike Triba Fusion 
with rates upto 8.00CPM! 

Choose an ad network that corresponds to your traffic. Don't go for 
one with a lower requirement as you may be compromising on your 
commission rates. Ad networks with higher traffic requirement than you 
get may not approve you. But just try them coz you may get a taste of 
their high rates. 

Some even look at the website age. A 2 month old blog with 30000 
visitors per month may fail their test even if their traffic 
requirement is just 10000. 

Other requirement are like: Top level domain. 
No adult or crime content. 
Good web design 
No ads from other networks e.t.c 

3. Commission types 

Do you need CPC, CPA, CPL, CPM, CPD or CPV basis? 
Let's look at each of them with examples 

CPC- good for small traffic websites or large traffic sites with more 
visitors from search engines(organic traffic) e.g THE HUFFINGTON POST 

CPM & CPV- good for large or low traffic websites with same visitors 
every day. These visitors may not be fond of clicking ads. e.g 
PROBLOGGER 

CPA, CPL and CPS -good for product review sites that may lead to high 
leads or sales e.g GSMARENA 

CPI (Cost per install)- good for gaming sites. 

4. Ad formats 

The basic ad formats are 

1. Banners- 728.90, 160.600, 120.600, 300.250, 326.280, 468.60, 300.600 
2. Pop up and pop under(700.300) 
3. Text- text links, tag cloud, tagline 
4. Intestitial, slide in, floating 
5. Video- inbanner, preroll, post roll 
6. Mobile etc 

The format you choose should be one that increases your CTR. Try the 
undiscovered lands of intext and slide-in. They are very profitable. 
Infolinks and kontera are very good 


5. Revenue share and payment details 

The ratio in which you share your earnings with the ad network should 
be the highest. Few ad networks provide 80:20, most have 70:30 and 
60:40 and a few like adpepper give 50:50 share. Tribal fusion have a 
55:45 share ratio. 

Payment details are important too. 
The payment cycles should be frequent- net0- pay on request, net7- 
weekly or net15- biweekly. Most ad networks pay on a monthly 
basis(net30). Few go to as long as net45 and net60 

The payment methods should be simple and convenient. Most ad networks 
have Paypal as their basic payment option. Wire, direct deposit, 
check, skrill, western union, payza, payoneer, webmoney, alertpay 
e.t.c are other methods used 
The minimum payment for each method vary from 0.5 to 50USD for paypal, 
100 to 500USD for check or wire. The average minimum payment is always 
50USD. 


Qadabra has just 1usd minimum payout while Tribal fusion has 100usd. 

Advice- Auction ad networks where you set your minimum price such as 
Buysellads and Pulsepoint are very lucrative. 

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